HEAD START HOW TO APPLY

Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program (HSSAP) funding is awarded on a competitive basis every five years (or when any additional funding is included in the state budget). The next competitive Request for Application (RFA) process is anticipated to be released in Spring 2023.

Announcements of the competitive RFA will be communicated through Penn Link and through the PA Early Ed News (click here to subscribe) as soon as it becomes available.

Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program applicants will need to supply a valid AUN number within the REQUIRED Letter of Intent and application. To verify your AUN number or to check to see if you have one assigned to your agency, click here. If you are an Intermediate Unit, select Search for Intermediate Units. If you are not an Intermediate Unit, select Advanced Search and search for your agency.

Applicants that are not already licensed by PDE, and therefore do not have an AUN number, should contact Brent Gordon atbrgordon@pa.gov (717) 346-0028 or Brian Bell atbribell@pa.gov (717) 346-0038 in PDE’s Office of Child Development and Early Learning.

Master Provider Index Number

Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program applicants will need a Master Provider Index (MPI) number as part of the application process. MPI numbers are used across the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) to identify legal entities and service locations that participate in any of their programs. As such, they are used in DHS’s data system as a common identifier for all of the Office of Child Development and Early Learning’s (which is a joint office between PDE and DHS) programs, including Child Care Licensing, Early Intervention, Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts, Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program and Keystone STARS.

Legal entities are assigned a unique 9-digit MPI number. In addition, service locations are assigned a unique 13-digit MPI number, which is created by adding a 4-digit extension to the 9-digit MPI of the legal entity. Legal entities and service providers currently participating in any of these programs should have an MPI number.

Applicants that are not currently participating in any of these programs should contact the Early Learning Network (ELN) Help Desk at (877) 491-3818 and provide their Federal Tax ID to determine their MPI numbers. MPI numbers will not be able to be provided without a Federal Tax ID. If an MPI is not identified a request form will need to be completed.

Tax ID Number or Federal ID Number

This is the number that an agency uses on its federal W-9 form. Applicants for Pennsylvania HSSAP funds should consult with the person who handles tax, legal or accounting matters for the agency to determine the federal ID number when you check on your legal name and address.